Em ir Bu ld ng
Wembley Stadium is 100 , but where did it all begin ?
The original version of Wembley Stadium Photo : Owen Pavey
Much of the focus of the celebrations of the 100th anniversary of Wembley Stadium has been on the famous games and notable events that have taken place in that part of north west London in the years since it opened in April 1923 . However , when the stadium was first built it was only meant to be in place for a short time and was just one part of a much larger project to attract investment across the British Empire . The events that have taken place in the 100 years since 1923 have recently been subject to much media attention , but the story of the Wembley Park site and the construction of the original stadium are just as noteworthy .
Once a manorial estate belonging to the Page family and consisting mainly of farmland , the site was transformed into a wooded parkland around 1792 by renowned landscape designer Humphry Repton . In those days the area was very different from today , with Repton writing that he had “ seen no spot within so short a distance of London more perfectly secluded ... Wembley is as quiet and retired at seven miles distance as it could be at seventy .” In keeping with his other commissions , Repton added the suffix ‘ Park ’ to his design , with Wembley Park becoming the default name for the locality , which included all of the current area of the same name as well as land up to Barn Hill to the north . It was on Barn Hill that a gothic tower offering views of the estate was built . As a kind of precursor for future events , the tower was never fully completed and became known as Page ’ s Folly .
The main house at Wembley Park was sold to brandy merchant John Gray in 1802 , along with much of the estate ; 327 acres of land covering the area bordered by what is now Wembley Hill Road , Forty Lane , the Chiltern Line railway and the River Brent . Wembley Park remained in the hands of the Gray family until 1880 when 47 acres of land were bought by the Metropolitan Railway to extend the line from Willesden Green to Harrow . The new line cut right through Wembley Park , bringing to an end its secluded idyll , and by the end of that decade the remaining portion of the estate had been sold off to the railway company .
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